Trade Good Crates
Trade Good Crates are a type of Treasure that can be found all over Sea of Thieves. These Crates are presumably lost on the seas by Ships sailing under the mercantile Merchant Alliance Trading Company. As such, these Trade Good Crates are valuable to the Senior Traders stationed at the Docks of every Outpost who are willing to offer Gold and Reputation for returning them. These Crates can be acquired through Merchant Lost Shipments and Legend of the Veil Voyages or are simply found through adventuring and sailing the seas.
Mechanics
A Player can only carry one Crate at a time and cannot use any other items while carrying them. When dropped, Crates emit a white glint from far away, making them easier to spot. Crates will float to the top when dropped in Water, however they will start sinking to the bottom after fifteen minutes have passed and disappear. Crates dropped on land or on shorelines will stay in-game for a long time. Untouched Crates will disappear when an Island respawns. Every Crate can be caught with a Ship's Harpoon.
Like any Treasure, the main use of Trade Good Crates is to sell them for Gold and Reputation.
Emissary Mechanics
Any Player Crews sailing as Merchant Alliance Emissaries can receive Emissary Grade Reputation for picking up and putting Trade Good Crates on their Ship for the first time. This benefit is also applicable for Reaper's Bones Emissaries who gain Emissary Reputation for any Treasure that they steal. Selling Trade Good Crates to the two companies as Emissaries does not give Emissary Grade Reputation, however Players do receive Emissary Value, which is counted for the respective Company Emissary Ledger leaderboards. The higher the Crew's Emissary Grade, the more Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value they receive for selling Trade Good Crates.
Where to find
Crates can be randomly found from the following sources:
- Beached on Islands, excluding Forts, Outposts and Seaposts
- Found inside Shipwrecks
- Found among floating Barrels of Plenty
- Found on Skeleton Ships
- Eaten by Megalodon and the Kraken
- Found inside Skeleton Fort Vaults
- 3 Guaranteed inside the Vault of a completed Fort of Fortune Vault
- Ghostly Crates found on Ghost Ships
- 2-4 Regular and Ghostly crates guaranteed inside the Treasuries of Sea Forts
- Found inside the Captain's cabin of Lost Shipments Voyage Shipwrecks
- 2-5 Ghostly Crates found on the final fortress in the last chapter of the Legend of the Veil voyage.
Rewards
Trade Good Crates can be cashed in to Merchant Alliance Senior Traders at any Outpost for Gold and Reputation with the Company. As stated before, Merchant Alliance Emissaries will also receive Emissary Value with the Merchants for selling the Crates while flying an Emissary Flag. Being an Emissary also increases the Gold and Reputation gains for selling Crates. Alternatively, Crews can choose to sell any acquired Crates to the Reaper's Bones Representative at The Reaper's Hideout instead for equal Gold and Emissary Value gains, but less Reputation gains with the Reapers.
The following is a table of the multiplicative Rewards for selling Trade Good Crates as Graded Emissaries.
| Emissary Grade | Rewards, Reputation & Emissary Value |
|---|---|
| Grade 1 | Base Reward |
| Grade 2 | +33% Base Reward |
| Grade 3 | +67% Base Reward |
| Grade 4 | +100% Base Reward |
| Grade 5 | +150% Base Reward |
Most Trade Good Crates don't have any Commendations tied to them and therefore selling Crates does not serve any purpose aside from gaining Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value with Companies.
When sold, the whole Crew is rewarded with equal amounts of Gold, Reputation and Emissary Value, while Alliance Members will earn half of the Gold and Reputation Gains, but no Emissary Value.
Most Trade Good Crates have a variable value with the minimum and maximum reported Gold rewards documented in the tables below.
List of Trade Good Crates
There are various types of Trade Good Crates with varying Gold, Reputation and Emissary Values:
Regular Crates
| Image | Crate | Base Gold Reward | Base Emissary Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Crate of Fine Sugar | 100 - 200  |
540 | This crate has a white cover with a sugar bowl on it. |
 |
Crate of Rare Tea | 260 - 470 |
1,080 | This crate has a green cover with tea leaves on it. |
 |
Crate of Exotic Silks | 500 - 1,000 |
2,160 | This crate has a red cover with folded cloth on it. |
 |
Crate of Exquisite Spices | 1,100 - 1,900 |
4,320 | This crate has a dark cover with pepper and spices on it. |
 |
Crate of Immaculate Diamonds | 3,000 - 3,100 |
9,150 | This crate has a white body with a light blue cover with a diamond on it. |
Ashen Crates
These Trade Good Crates are more commonly found all around The Devil's Roar region:
| Image | Crate | Base Gold Reward | Base Emissary Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Crate of Volcanic Stone | 260 - 470 |
1,080 | This crate has a singed light gray cover with a volcano on it. |
 |
Crate of Fine Ore | 500 - 1,000 |
2,160 | The Crate has a singed brown cover with a pickaxe on it. |
 |
Crate of Extraordinary Minerals | 1,100 - 1,900 |
4,320 | This crate has a singed turquoise cover with minerals on it. |
 |
Crate of Precious Gemstones | 2,100 - 3,600 |
8,640 | This crate has a singed dark red cover with precious gems and metals on it. |
Encounter and Quest Crates
| Image | Crate | Base Gold Reward | Base Emissary Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Ashes of the Damned | 1,150 - 1,400 |
3,840 | This ghostly crate has a flaming skull above piles of ash on it. |
 |
Crate of Ancient Bone Dust | 2,100 - 5,400 |
12,960 | This dark, bone-covered crate has a a pile of ash with a skull and bone. |
Commendations
| Commendations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Commendation | Requirements | Rewards |
 | Precious Commodities | Deliver 600 Merchant Alliance Consignments while flying the Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag. High Seas only
| n/a |
 | Prestigious Merchant | Deliver 320 Merchant Alliance Consignments while flying a Grade 5 Merchant Alliance Emissary Flag. High Seas only
| n/a |
 | Cargo Captured | Deliver 480 Merchant Alliance Consignments to the Reaper's Bones. High Seas only
| n/a |
 | Plundered Prizes | Sell 600 of any Trading Company items while flying the Reaper's Bones Emissary Flag. High Seas only
|  Unlocks the Dawn Hunter instruments for purchase at Grade I, the Dawn Hunter equipment for purchase at Grade II, the Dawn Hunter clothing and vanity for purchase at Grade III, the Dawn Hunter weapons for purchase at Grade IV, the Dawn Hunter ship set for purchase at Grade V. |
 | Fearless Reaper | Sell 320 of any Trading Company items while flying a Grade 5 Reaper's Bones Emissary Flag. High Seas only
| n/a |
 | Legendary Merchant of Bone | Sell 100 Crates of Ancient Bone Dust as a Pirate Legend High Seas only
|  Rewards the Legendary Merchant of Bone Title. |
 | Master of Ancient Bone Dust | Sell 10 Crates of Ancient Bone Dust | +20  |
 | Treasured Company | Sell treasures that you or another pirate earned from completing Trading Company Voyages.
| Unlocks the Cartographer Blunderbuss and Pistol for purchase. |
Trivia
- Unlike other Treasure that came out at release, Trade Good Crates have no Company specific Commendations or Quests tied to them.
- There is an Athena's Treasure version of Trade Good Crates, called a Crate of Legendary Voyages that is not valuable to the Merchant Alliance.
Patch history
- 2.0.16 (June 17, 2020)
- Added Ashes of the Damned.
- 2.0.4 (June 19, 2019)
- Jumping with a Merchant Crate no longer causes the player’s left hand to disappear.
- 1.4.0 (November 28, 2018)
- Added Crate of Ancient Bone Dust.
- 1.3.0 (September 27, 2018)
- Added ashen variants of the merchant crates.
- First Release (March 20, 2018)
- Introduced.
